Battle of Midway Quiz

The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in World War II.
It took place from 4-7 June 1942 in the Pacific Theater, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
The US Navy defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet.
The battle involved four Japanese and three US aircraft carriers.
Four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk, as was the heavy cruiser Mikuma.
The US lost the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammann.
The Battle of Midway is widely considered a turning point in the Pacific War.
The Japanese planned a "barrier" strategy to extend Japan's defensive perimeter, but it was undermined by faulty Japanese anticipations and poor initial dispositions.
The battle is considered one of the most consequential naval engagements in world history.
Yamamoto's primary strategic goal was the elimination of America's carrier forces, which he regarded as the principal threat to the overall Pacific campaign.
The Japanese occupied the Aleutian Islands to place the Japanese home islands out of range of U.S. land-based bombers in Alaska.
The occupied islands were feared to be used as bases for Japanese bombers to attack strategic targets and population centers along the West Coast of the United States.
Operation AL was intended to be launched simultaneously with the attack on Midway, but a one-day delay in the sailing of Nagumo's task force resulted in Operation AL beginning a day before the Midway attack.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz needed every available flight deck to battle an enemy expected to muster four or five carriers.
Nimitz recalled Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's task force, including the carrier Yorktown, from the South West Pacific Area.
Yorktown was restored to a battle-ready state in 72 hours at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
The US Navy stationed four squadrons of PBYs and six brand-new Grumman TBF Avengers from Hornet's VT-8 on Midway.
The Japanese light carrier Shōhō had been sunk, and the fleet carrier Shōkaku had been severely damaged by three bomb hits and was in drydock for months of repair.
The Japanese carrier force suffered from several defensive deficiencies, including limited effectiveness of anti-aircraft guns and an inadequate early warning system.
Admiral Nimitz had one critical advantage: U.S. cryptanalysts had partially broken the Japanese Navy's JN-25b code.
The US Navy used code-breaking to gain intelligence on the Japanese during the Battle of Midway.
The US Navy intercepted a Japanese message indicating a water shortage at "AF", which was later determined to be the Japanese carrier force.
The US Navy had a good idea of the Japanese fleet's strength and location due to their code-breaking efforts.
The dispersal of the Japanese fleet made it difficult for them to support each other, reducing their anti-aircraft capabilities.
The first air attack by the US on the Japanese resulted in no significant damage.
The Japanese launched an initial attack on Midway, damaging the US base and causing heavy losses to American fighters.
American bombers launched several attacks on the Japanese carrier force, but were repelled with significant losses.
The American submarine USS Nautilus unsuccessfully attacked a battleship and a cruiser in the Japanese fleet.
Admiral Nagumo was in a quandary after receiving intelligence on the American fleet, and ultimately decided to strike with the forces at hand.
The Battle of Midway was a decisive victory for the US Navy, who sank four Japanese carriers and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese fleet.
Nagumo, the Japanese fleet commander, chose not to launch a second wave of attacks on the American carriers after the initial attack on June 4, 1942, due to the risk of losing his reserve planes and the lack of confirmation of American carriers.
The American carriers launched their planes against the Japanese, with Enterprise and Hornet launching at 7:00 and Yorktown launching at 8:00.
American carrier aircraft had difficulty locating the Japanese fleet despite the positions they had been given.
The torpedo attacks by American TBD Devastators failed to hit any Japanese carriers.
Despite their failure to score any hits, the American torpedo attacks kept the Japanese carriers off balance and unable to prepare and launch their own counterstrike.
The appearance of a third torpedo plane attack from the southeast by VT-3 from Yorktown drew the majority of the Japanese CAP to the southeast quadrant of the fleet.
Three squadrons of SBDs from Enterprise and Yorktown were approaching from the southwest and northeast at the same time as VT-3 was sighted by the Japanese.
Air Group Commander C. Wade McClusky, Jr. decided to continue the search for the Japanese fleet and spotted the wake of the Japanese destroyer Arashi, leading to the successful dive-bombing attack on the Japanese carriers.
The successful dive-bombing attack by American planes sank four Japanese carriers, turning the tide of the Pacific War in favor of the Allies.
The Battle of Midway marked the first major naval victory for the United States over Japan in World War II.